At a December 5 100th birthday
celebration for retiring Senator Strom Thurmond (R-SC), Lott
said: "I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond
ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if
the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have
had all these problems over all these years, either." Thurmond's
1948 presidential candidacy was based on a pro-segregation platform.

Lott since has apologized,
saying his comments were "a poor choice of words" and
that his praise for Thurmond referred to Thurmond's stance on
issues other than segregation.

Project 21 members hold differing
views on whether Lott should resign as Majority Leader. Although
no Project 21 member says Lott actually supports segregationist
policies, many believe he should resign the post.

Project 21 member and syndicated
columnist Deroy Murdock says: "The only people who benefited
from Lott's comments are Democrats who now have an all-purpose
bogeyman. Next year will see President Bush's tax cuts morph
into the 'Trent Lott Tax Act,' designed to siphon money from
poor blacks and hand it to rich white people in the suburbs.
President Bush's goal of individual Social Security accounts
will be dubbed the 'Trent Lott Pension Scheme' to rob black widows
and hand their pensions to wealthy whites on Wall Street. And
good luck to GOP candidates who pose for pictures with Lott.
They can look forward to seeing their faces beside Lott's in
campaign attack ads. What a splendid way to anger black Democrats
and drive them to the polls. Lott should do the right thing and
take a seat in the back of the Senate bus."

Project 21 member Ak'bar Shabazz,
a Republican Party activist, supplied his own view: "If
Republicans are serious about not conceding the black vote to
the Democrats, then Senator Lott must be removed from his leadership
position. His presence will allow Democrats to continue to portray
Republicans as insensitive to the concerns of the black community.
As we continue to inform and relay the true nature of the conservatism,
his words will be used as ammunition against us for as long as
he's present. We have to remove that round from the chamber."

Not all Project 21 members
believe Lott should step down as Majority Leader.

Reverend Jesse Peterson, president
and CEO of the Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny, speaking
for his group, said: "We have accepted Lott's apology and
need no further explanation. He's proven himself over the years
to be a good man. Al Sharpton is thinking of running for President.
I wonder if he'll apologize for the Tawana Brawley incident and
past comments he made about Jews. We are asking Trent Lott not
to resign, and trust him any day over any member of the Congressional
Black Caucus or Sharpton."

Very many Project 21 members
compared the criticism of Lott to that received by liberal politicians
displaying racial insensitivities, citing an apparent double
standard. Comments by Project 21 member Michael King reflected
the thoughts of many: "Bill Clinton's political mentors
- former Arkansas Senator J. William Fulbright (D) and former
Arkansas Governor Orville Faubus (D) - were both rabid segregationists,
yet Clinton gave Fulbright a medal and praises him to this day.
West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) is not only a former
member of the Ku Klux Klan, but he has never gone on record as
renouncing or apologizing for his involvement in that organization.
Yet we are supposed to tar and feather Trent Lott?"